Erik Fowler, a 17-year-old junior from Bay View, signed up for the MPS job fair to explore employment opportunities and network.
“I want to go into the Air Force … to work on planes and that will help me set up my engineering degree,” he said. “If that doesn’t work out, I’ll probably become a firefighter.”
“People don’t seem to hate firefighters,” he added with a laugh, before pulling up a photo of the college he wants to attend, Red Rock Community College in Lakewood, Colorado.
Fowler was one of about 1,000 students from 26 high schools invited to Milwaukee Public Schools’ first-ever job fair, which included more than 60 employers.
The recent event was held at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Student Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
“Being on a college campus exposes them to the different things they can be a part of and maybe encourages them to [attend] college,” said MPS Intern Coordinator Tamara Coleman.
Kayla Hutchins, 17, came early to the event. “I’m here to fill out job applications and get hired,” she said, adding that she also would be interested in interning at UWM. She said she wants to study history at UWM and ultimately become a professor.
Students from Alexander Hamilton High School, James Madison Academic Campus, Harold S. Vincent High School, Milwaukee Marshall High School, Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education, Milwaukee School of Languages and Bay View High School attended the fair.
Jean Salzer, director of UWM’s Career Planning and Resource Center, said students who gain job experience often emerge with a “better picture of reality.”
“It will help them learn in a non-academic setting,” Salzer explained. “They will learn how to think critically, problem solve and communicate better.”
MPS officials are hoping to hold the fair annually, Salzer noted.
BG Multifamily Director of Sales Kayla Santillanes said it was her first time attending a job fair.
BG Multifamily is a staffing company that recruits employees for property improvement firms. The company doesn’t require applicants to have a high school education, Santillanes said, but it is looking to hire leasing agents and maintenance techs interested in real estate.
“[We want] people who are hardworking and want to get into the trade … reliable people,” Santillanes added.
Siena Bickham was at the fair representing the Milwaukee Department of City Development’s Earn & Learn summer youth project.
Students have the choice to work in any department at an office or field setting and are paid for 20 hours per week.
“We do anything from city planning to real estate,” Bickham said.
About 130 interns will be hired this year, compared to 144 last summer, according to Vanessa Armstrong, a human resources officer for the city.
Coleman said the fair is a great opportunity to expose employers to MPS’ best and brightest.
“One of our goals was to … show [employers] that we’re more than just what the news portrays,” Coleman said. “Our kids are really smart and talented, but we want them to be able to explain their experience and who they are,” she added.
Milwaukee native Daishawn Dillard, 18, said he wants to get job experience before going to Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee and eventually return to Milwaukee and work as a teacher.
“I’m good at math,” he said, smiling.
Yovana Gonzalez and Rianna Laboy were among several students who participated in the National School Walkout to protest gun violence, which coincided with the fair. Students left the fair and stood on a balcony for 17 minutes, honoring the 17 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting victims.
Laboy, who sings in the Milwaukee High School of the Arts choir, said she wants to attend college, pursue a degree in performance and become a singer/songwriter. Gonzalez said she wants to take a break after high school before pursuing a degree in the medical field.
“I’m here to find more career options,” Gonzalez said, “[but] I think I want to be physician.”
UWM Chancellor Mark Mone said, “It’s so vitally important for [students] to see the application of the skills they learn in school. [The fair] really reinforces the linkage between school and work.”
According to 2016 census data, Milwaukee’s unemployment rate was 17.3 percent for African-Americans and 8.6 percent for Latinos, compared to the city average of 10.3 percent and the national average of 7.4 percent.
Coleman, said she hopes the job fair will encourage students to start seriously considering their career and education options.
“I hope they [come] away being able to network and explore other opportunities in Milwaukee.”
blurondo says
“Milwaukee Public Schools’ first-ever job fair, which included more than 60 employers.”
Two thoughts:
MPS should have been doing this for years.
It would have been valuable to list the employers so those who didn’t attend could follow up on their own.
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service says
According to MPS, employers attending the Job Fair were:
• ADAMM
• Aloria Health
• American Income
• ArtWorks for Milwaukee
• Aurora Health Care
• AWE (Artists Working in Education)
• Bartolotta Management Group
• BG Multifamily
• Boucher Automotive Group
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee
• Braeger Automotive Group
• City of Milwaukee – Department of Public Works
• CleanPower
• Coakley Brothers Company
• Cross Management Services
• David J. Frank Landscape Contracting, Inc.
• Department of Workforce Development
• Eagle Enterprises ltd
• Earn & Learn Summer Youth Internship Program
• Educators Credit Union
• Employ Milwaukee
• Ewald Automotive Group
• Five Guys
• GACC Midwest, Inc
• Goodwill
• Goodwill TalentBridge
• Grover Corporation
• HM Graphics
• ICM Corporation
• International Autos
• Job Corps
• JTS Direct LLC
• KLH Industries, Inc.
• Launch Management Launch Careers
• Local 2337 Millwrights & Pile Drivers
• Lynch Motor Vehicle Group
• Marcus Hotels & Resorts
• MATC
• Mi Comunidad Multiservicios
• Milwaukee County
• Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
• Milwaukee Police Department
• Milwaukee Public Schools – Arts Internship Program
• Milwaukee Public Schools – Department of Recreation and Community Services
• Milwaukee Public Schools – Human Resources
• Milwaukee Public Schools – Youth Apprenticeships
• Milwaukee World Festival, Inc (Summerfest)
• MSOE
• Outpost Natural Foods
• PeppNation Sports Leadership Camps
• Pieper Electric, Inc.
• Potawatomi Hotel & Casino
• Prostar Surfaces
• Quad Graphics
• Saz’s Hospitality Group
• SEEK Careers/Staffing – HellermannTyton
• Sil’s Mini Donuts
• Six Flags Great America
• SSA – Milwaukee County Zoo
• Sundance, Inc. Taco Bell
• UMOS
• UWM Career Planning & Resource Center
• WEC Energy Group
• Wisconsin Construction Craft Laborers
• Woodman’s Food Market
• Zilli Hospitality Group
Randy says
Wish MPS did this years ago back in the 2000’s
Heck, even tell me where I could go to college and that you could get financial help. Didn’t know where you could go, didn’t know we had a college here; UWM. Even if I had heard of ones, 100’s of thousands for tuition meant I could never go, I or my parents didn’t have that kind of money. MPS, they never helped us.
At least 15 years later I’m the CEO of a small company, but still, MPS still failing its students…